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Thursday, July 16, 2015

-Ish I Never Thought I'd Do

Wow, that sounds really ominous. It's really not that exciting but hey, maybe I got another person looking at ye 'ole blog. Annnd they're gone. Lol. It's cool, I love my 10 readers, you all are the bomb. 

Most people know that I started out my career in retail. I sold jewelry at Sears while I was in college and then was a manager for the now defunct Whitehall Jewelers. When you sell jewelry, you tend to accumulate jewelry. Like a lot of jewelry. 

I have a jewelry armoire full of things that I haven't worn in years. Literally years... tiny hoop earrings, plain ones, ones with stones, thin bracelets, things that were a Sears / Whitehall holiday special. You name it, I have it. 

I have some really nice things too, things that Kev has bought me over the years, but it seemed like when I left the jewelry industry, I stopped wearing a lot of "real" pieces. I know my tastes have changed as I've gotten older and thin chains with pendants just aren't for me. 

I'd rather have more substantial pieces that are versatile and I don't really care if they're considered "costume" jewelry. I do love me some Kendra Scott. 

Let me clarify too, all of these things I bought with my jewelry discount, At Whitehall it was 50% off. I think Sears was the same as well. That's the main reason I can't pay retail for jewelry anymore.  KNOW the stores still made a profit even with my discount, which just goes to show you how much the markup is on jewelry. If there's a decent piece of jewelry I want to get, it's actually worth it for us to drive up to NYC and go to the diamond district. The prices and quality are far superior to anything you'd get at the mall. My wedding rings, diamond studs and a few other things all came from there.

Honestly though, if you're in NYC, hit up the jewelry stores there. I was looking at gold hoop earrings and saw some meh ones for $100. It just made me angry. I KNOW you can get a better deal and everyone still makes money. Sometimes I think it would be fun to work in a jewelry store over the holidays, just for the discount. Kev reminds me that's a really bad idea because I'd spend more than I'd ever make. 

Anywho, for years Kev has been on me to clear out the armoire and sell some of the jewelry, which is what I did last weekend.


I thought about selling the jewelry on ebay but it seemed like a giant pain in the ass. Instead I took my pile to National Pawn to see what I'd get for the gold. I never, ever thought I'd sell anything at a pawn shop. I've been extremely fortunate that I've never needed to pawn my belongings to make ends meet or get extra cash. I just never saw a situation where I'd need to go to a pawn shop.

I bagged up my stuff and headed on inside. I was really impressed with the process, they weighed everything and gave me a decent rate per gram of gold. I walked out of there with far more money than I expected. Like, a lot. I really don't think there's much difference between what I paid for it back then with my discount and what I got for it today. Not too shabby.

So there you have it. I sold my old jewelry at a pawn shop and know I have a pocket full of cash to get something I'll actually wear. Now... what to get?

6 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of selling clothing and accessories that I no longer wear and are too nice to donate but I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but it might be nice to have more space and some extra cash towards something new, because who doesn't love something new?!

    xx,
    Susie

    www.SequinsandStrawberries.com

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    1. I feel the same way about some of my clothes. I sent some to ThredUp a while ago but wasn't thrilled with what I got. I might have to hit up some consignment shops in town and see what they can do.

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  2. I'm pretty bad about wearing jewelry, especially earrings. I forget a lot. That's awesome that you made so much money back! Spend it on something you love! :)

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  3. That's awesome! I have some old jewelery that I never wear but most of it isn't real so it's not worth anything, lol!

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    1. lol. I had SOOOOOOooooo much that was just sitting collecting dust!

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  4. Lol. So true! I do love me some diamonds! That's one of those things that I would wait until we went to NYC to buy. All of my diamonds have come from there and the prices and quality are soooo much better!

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